What to bring to a tattoo design chat

The free fifteen minute design chat exists so you turn up to the session knowing exactly what is happening. The more you bring, the more useful it is.

A rough idea rather than a finished one. A dragonfly, fine line, somewhere on my ribs is perfect. A fully rendered image you found online is harder to work with, because it was drawn for someone else's body and Emily will not copy another artist's design anyway.

References, including the ones you hate. Three pieces you love and one you cannot stand tells Emily more than ten you love. Style, weight, density and mood come across faster in pictures than in words.

A rough size, in centimetres if you can. People consistently underestimate. Hold your fingers apart and measure the gap, because that is usually closer to the truth than the number you had in mind.

A budget, honestly. Sessions are 80 pounds an hour. Saying you have got about two hundred to spend is not awkward, it is useful. It lets Emily scale the design to what you actually want to pay rather than quoting you something that makes you wince.

Any medical thing that might matter. Skin conditions, medication, whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding, anything that affects healing or bleeding. It changes the plan, not whether you are welcome.

You do not need to have decided. Turning up undecided and leaving with a plan is exactly what the chat is for.